CABOT, Ark. — What started as a joke between neighboring businesses in Cabot is now going viral.
"It was just for fun," Chad Merritt, the General Manager at Mean Pig BBQ in Cabot, said. "So we just bit the bullet one day and was like, 'Why not?'"
They started a "sign war" – jokes on their marquee board along Bill Foster Memorial Highway – to have some fun with their neighbors next door.
"Then I was like, 'Huh, so they're trying to start something,'" Avery Wilson, the Managing Partner at the Sonic next door said, laughing.
It started off with simple jokes to each other.
"Fired off '1, 2, 3, 4, we declare a sign war,'" Merritt said.
"One of our carhops went out there and we said, '5, 6, 7, 8, we're down to participate," Wilson said.
That was less than a week ago. Now, the reach the businesses are getting is more than just the two of them.
"Oh yeah, it's unreal," Merritt said. "We didn't expect, we just, a little banter between Sonic, maybe one other business."
It's a lot more than just one other business. A Facebook page dedicated to the signs has dozens of posts a day with people posting their own signs.
"Yeah, I mean it's just awesome to see what one business can do, and then the next business," Wilson said.
Other businesses decided to hop in as well.
"We saw it on Facebook," Jenna Bailey, who works at Cabot Meat Market, said. "Mean Pig posted on Facebook that they were wanting to start a sign war."
While the signs are all jokes, there's a bigger point behind it after the reach the two businesses have seen.
"I mean it's awesome, because, I mean, Buddy and myself have created opportunities for other small businesses to get their name out there," Wilson said.
And even though it's recent, there are already T-Shirts available to purchase. That money won't go to Mean Pig or Sonic, though.
"I guess at the end of the month, being able to take the money that we've made from that, and to be able to give it to the animal shelter, or the parks and rec, something with a purpose," Merritt said.
Merritt said he's seen people on the Facebook page from as far away as Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia.
He says if you want to participate, but you don't have a big sign in front of your business, you still can. Merritt says a sheet of paper will do just fine.